By Guy D. Garcia

'Twas the week before Christinas, and all through the House, not a motion was stirring ... But that did not stop Speaker Tip O'Neill, 72, from mounting the podium. The venerable Democrat journeyed to his home state last week to narrate A Visit from St. Nicholas with the Boston Pops. Although O'Neill had rehearsed with the orchestra only once, neither he nor Conductor John Williams missed a beat, even when the audience interrupted the narrative with laughter and applause whenever O'Neill's eyebrows started moving con brio. Afterward the Speaker confessed that he had a private rehearsal at home, with his grandchildren prompting "Pop-Pop" whenever he flubbed a line. "It's been 30 years since I've read the poem," he twinkled in his best jolly-old-elf style. Is O'Neill perchance contemplating a stage career when he retires in 1986? "Naw," says the Speaker, "I think I'll just do a little teaching."

The 1985 Guinness Book of World Records lists him as America's most prolific author. For the time being, Isaac Asimov is in no danger of losing his title. The Russian-born writer was in New York City last week to celebrate the publication of his 300th volume, named, appropriately enough, Opus 300. An anthology of his previous 99, the tome covers a galaxy of topics, including the Moral Majority, mysteries, robots, computers, astronomy, physics, genetics, and erotic limericks, to name just a few. Asimov, 64, is happy to share the secret of his industry: "The process of writing is fun. This is all I ask." Will there be an Opus 400? He hopes so, but adds, "I might be 80 by then, and at 80 I'll be too old to get into any trouble--or write about it."

Actress Jane Seymour has made a career out of portraying sexy, scheming ladies. Seymour, 33, played the femme fatale in both the TV mini-series East of Eden and the small-screen version of The Sun Also Rises. In her new film, Head Office, she is again true to form--this time in the boardroom. "I play a lady executive sleeping her way to the top," Seymour reports. "In many ways she is the most honest of the characters." Still, the star was bothered about her new role. "Would a thinking woman, a feminist do this?" she asked herself, then decided that the script was "extremely funny and made sense." Another departure for Seymour are three scenes in scanty black underwear. Running around close to au naturel, she says, "is rare for me."

It all begins with a volcano erupting violently as a Japanese vessel is tossed on a stormy sea. Next morning the lone survivor's ghastly vision of the night before could only mean one thing: Godzilla! Nine years after he last skulked off into Tokyo Bay, the humongous lizard with the hot temper is back in a new movie. Godzilla, which has scared up big receipts since it opened in Japan earlier this month, is No. 16 in the series that began in 1954 and has become a late-night TV immortal. In his latest star turn, Godzilla, 30, once again stomps on the Ginza and bites the bullet train, but the plot has been updated for 1984 audiences. "The first film dealt with nature's revenge against man," explains Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. "This time, the sense of nuclear danger is stronger, and the question raised is how to handle nuclear weapons. That is the message, which we tried to make as entertaining as possible." Beware: Godzilla may reach U.S. theaters next year.

--By Guy D. Garcia

On the Record

Anne Richardson, on her husband Elliot Richardson, who has served as Secretary of Defense, Attorney General and Secretary of Commerce: "Once you've been married to one Cabinet Secretary, you've married them all."

Barbara Walters, on Mr. Right: "I sort of like businessmen. I like the waters to run still and deep. Men with 'wounded wings' don't appeal to me. Power and wounded, that would appeal to me. But if he's just wounded, I'd say goodbye."